


sick of all the insincere

by theonewiththeeyebrows



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek is 26, Established Relationship, Faked Death, Kid!Fic, M/M, Married Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Past Derek Hale/Paige, So I guess you could call it an AU, Talia was not a horrible person but she did horrible things, alive!Paige, stiles is 22, teacher!stiles, time line is a little skewed, to err is human (or what not)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 16:19:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9910907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonewiththeeyebrows/pseuds/theonewiththeeyebrows
Summary: Derek visits Stiles, but ends up having to confront some of the ghosts of his past -- Paige, who he thought he killed.





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles looked up from the stack of papers on his desk when he heard the door to his classroom open. Isabelle was the only kid left to still be picked up, but dark jeans and leather jacket belonged to Stiles’ husband and he couldn’t help but smile at the fact that he was here.

“What are you doing here?”

“I got off work early, and you know the school is on my way home. So… “ Derek’s faces twists up in confusion and he turns to look at Isabelle.

“Izzy’s mom should be here soon. She’d said she’d be late getting her today. How was work?” Stiles says absentmindedly as he goes back to the paperwork on his desk. When Derek doesn’t reply he looks up to see Derek’s gone pale and he’s still staring at Izzy. “Babe, are you ok?” He reaches out to touch Derek, and Derek startles so badly it scares Stiles.

“Derek? Are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He stands and pushes Derek into his desk chair, Derek’s eyes are glued to the child sitting in the far corner of the classroom, and now Stiles is getting a little uncomfortable.

There’s a flurry of commotion outside his door, and it bangs open, Izzy’s mom, is a single mom, a little older than Stiles with long chestnut curls and a mole under her left eye. She’s a musician of some sort, but Stiles doesn’t really know her too well. He knows that sometimes she’s a little late picking Izzy up, and he knows how hard Single Mom’s have it. “Izzy!”

“Mom!” The little girl cries as she closes the book she was coloring in and puts away her things.

But it’s Derek who brings the whole situation to a grinding halt, “Paige?”

Everyone freezes and Stiles can’t breathe because he knows about Paige, but Paige was _dead_. Derek’s eyes were blue _because_ Paige was dead. At least that’s what Peter told him. Paige has gone deathly white; her grip on her purse looks painful and her eyes have gone wide and fearful as they dart to Isabelle.

“Oh no! Izzy get your things we have to go!”

“Paige?”

Isabelle is reaching out to grab her mother’s hand when Derek lets out a heartbroken sound and break’s Stiles’ heart with his next words, “Is she my daughter?”

Paige grabs Izzy by the wrist and drags her through the hall, her little legs barely able to keep up. But it spurs Derek, and therefore Stiles into action, and they follow her. Derek grabs her by the elbow, “Paige. Stop! Just tell me the truth!”

The silence says so much. And Paige is crying silent tears. Isabelle, tugging on her mom’s dress whispering “Mom, don’t cry!”

“… How?”

There is fury in Paige’s eyes when she whips around. “Derek, I need you to back the hell away from me and my daughter. Your family has hurt me enough. It wasn’t enough that you essentially forced me to fake my death and leave Beacon Hills, now you want to take away the only thing that brings light into my life?”

“What? Paige, I was there that night. You died in my arms. _I_ killed you. I had to. There was so much blood, and you – I couldn’t. I loved you so much and I had to hold you while you took your last breath.”

“Oh, like I am supposed to believe that! You were there when that monster almost bit me. You mother came in and saved both of us. But then she told me I was a distraction that she would work out the details of my ‘death’ so that you wouldn’t come find me. Around the time Izzy was born I stopped hearing from her so I figured she didn’t want to know. She gave me 3 million dollars when she found out. I couldn’t contact you. Eight years later here we are. I put most of the money in a trust for Izzy. I make what we need to survive – at times it was difficult but I made do.”

“My family died in a fire eight years ago.” Paige flinches. Stiles can see the toll the years have taken on her, the pain she has suffered emotionally. She can see how much this is hurting Derek, but he doesn’t know what to do. He puts a hand on Derek’s shoulder. It startles Paige.

“I’m sorry about that.” She looks at her daughter who is looking at Derek with curiosity and wonder, but skepticism. “What do you want from me?”

“Can we meet and talk? I want to know her. I didn’t know about her. I didn’t know you were still _alive_. I’m so sorry for how my family hurt you, but I have carried the guilt of your death in my heart for nine years. I’d like to sit and talk to you, learn about Izzy.” He reaches up and puts his hand over Stiles’. “Maybe you can get to know me, and my family.”

Paige looks so conflicted. And Stiles can sympathize with her, but he wants what’s best for his husband and he knows rash decisions won’t help anyone. “Paige, you know me. You know how I am with Izzy. I can honestly tell you, he had no idea, he doesn’t lie to me. But why don’t you take the day to think about it. You have my number. Text me whenever. Even if it's 3 a.m.” She nods.

Derek’s muscles tense under Stiles’ fingers as Paige turns around and walks away with her daughter.

“Fuck.” He whispers, and the man he loves, shatters into a million pieces in a middle-school hallway, clutching him like a lifeline.

***

He’s just put Derek to bed. Because on bad days Derek needs it. He’s about to go get changed into his pajamas and curl up around his vulnerable husband when his phone buzzes.

**Isabelle K. Mom**

_Tell Derek, ok. I’ll meet him for coffee. We can talk. I won’t bring Izzy. Not this time, but maybe you can be there?_


	2. we're not broken just bent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a one-shot, but I felt that even though I talked about Derek/Paige a lot in the actual story, Stiles was sort of sidelined. So here's Stiles.

Stiles wasn't sure how he felt about the whole situation. 

They had moved to Seattle a year ago, when Stiles got his first assignment as an undercover middle-school teacher. Derek was working with a contractor to restore houses, while simultaneously working at a bookstore. He didn't have to work if he didn't want to, but he was good with his hands, and enjoyed the few hours he spent with Mrs. Kowalski at the bookstore.

When Peter told Stiles about Paige and Derek's history. How Derek had wanted Paige to be a werewolf so that they could be together forever, it stung. When Stiles and Derek finally got together, they'd had a long discussion about her. Paige was Derek's first love. She was beautiful and fierce, stubborn and challenging. She was a lot like Stiles, and sometimes Stiles felt like he was a stand-in. Like he was the runner-up, but then the winner got disqualified on a technicality, so he won by default but didn't deserve the prize. 

It wasn't that Derek didn't love him. Derek wasn't good with his words, years of tragedy after tragedy had changed him; but he showed Stiles he loved him in so many different ways. In the way he could tell when something was bothering him, or the way Derek pressed butterfly kisses all over his body every Saturday -- reverent and loving. But Derek carried guilt like the weight of the world, and while he was slowly learning to forgive himself for Kate and the Darach, he carried the guilt of Paige's death like an anvil in the sea. While his nightmares of fire and sacrificial murders reduced, the ones where he woke up staring at his hands as though they were covered in blood, had increased. It wasn't that bad, it wasn't every day, and it wasn't even most nights. It was on very good days, days when Stiles and Derek were so happy and so in love, that Paige's death haunted them. 

So to see Izzy's mom, as Paige, the woman Derek loved, who he supposedly _killed_. It was agony. 

But he could see his husband breaking, cracking under his carefully crafted facade, and he had to choose who he wanted to be. And there was a little girl to consider. A daughter. Derek's daughter. _Oh, God!_

When Stiles and Derek finally got together after two years of snark, innuendo, fighting and unresolved sexual tension, it wasn't like most people thought it would be -- anger and rage. Instead, they took comfort in each other. Derek was the sunshine on Stiles' cloudy day, and Stiles, despite his chaotic nature was the safe harbor from Derek's crashing storms. Stiles and Derek both started going to therapy to work their issues out, and it had been working. It wasn't that they were ever unhappy, but there was definitely a positive shift in their lives. When they got married they talked about children. Stiles could tell how much Derek wanted a child. He had such a big heart and so much love to give. He'd started showing more affection to his Betas and they were thriving. Therapy was also the reason Derek was able to work on dealing with his guilt. But Stiles knew, no matter how much Derek wanted children, save for adoption or surrogacy Stiles couldn't give him that. How was Stiles supposed to compete with _Paige_ and _Isabelle_? It was going to be a losing battle. He was going to lose his mate, he knew it, but he loved Derek, he would do whatever was best for Derek.

When they get home, Stiles makes Derek's favorite green bean casserole for dinner, with rotisserie chicken sandwiches. He curls up around Derek and waits for Derek to tell him what's going on in his head, but nothing comes. He curls up around Derek, knowing that no matter what, he will always love this man. He will always be there for him; even if that means, staying away. Derek's half asleep and drooping, so Stiles wakes him up enough to drag him to their bed. He tucks the comforter around him and wraps him up in his arms, until Derek's breath evens out. He's barely holding it together by the time Derek's fallen asleep.

When the text comes through he doesn't know how he holds back his tears. He slides into the bathroom, takes off his clothes, turns on the shower and lets the tears come. He cries silently, and it's not satisfying or cleansing -- it just hurts. He slides down the wall, shoulders shaking from ferocity of his tears and head hurting from the struggle to keep silent. He hurts all over and he doesn't know how to make it stop. When he can't cry anymore, and all that come are heavy panting breaths that feel like a knife in his lungs, he turns off the shower. He wipes himself down. His reflection is unrecognizable and if Derek saw him right now he would know immediately that Stiles had been crying, so he's glad Derek's asleep. He pulls on his pajamas and night shirt and slides into bed. Derek's eyebrows are furrowed, and Stiles puts his hand on Derek's chest, and it unfurrows immediately and he sighs. Derek stirs, eyes opening slightly, and Stiles turns over to hide. He feels Derek slide up behind him, thick arms engulfing his waist and pulling him back against Derek's chest, and he bites his lip and blinks back tears when Derek murmurs in his sleep, nose buried in Stiles nape.

_Stiles._

 

* * *

The timeline in case anyone was wondering:

8.5 years ago - Paige "died". Derek becomes depressed. He starts taking wood-working classes at the local community college because his dad forces him to and meets Kate who listens to him and lets him rage. When they fuck it's all anger and frustration -- it's not love, but Derek feels like she's the only one who can understand him. (Derek is 17)

8 years ago - Derek's family dies, He and Laura only go to NY. (Derek is 18, Stiles 14)

6 years ago - Laura returns when she gets an email with the revenge spiral. Derek comes back to find Laura dead -- season 1 & 2 happen essentially. (Derek is 20, Stiles 16)

5 years ago - They find the betas. They find Cora. Derek pushes the pack away to save them -- they turn to Scott and Stiles. The Darach also target's Derek through their English Teacher, Ms. Jennifer Blake. Cora gets poisoned -- Peter redeems himself by using his werewolf spark to cure her (he is now human -- but with some supernatural ability he is stronger and has sharper senses). He tells them the story of Derek's childhood when Derek find's Erica's broken body and runs away for three days. Erica survives, they made it look worse than it was. She was alive. Stiles' dad gets captured, but they manage to save the parents. Derek climbs into Stiles' room that night. Stiles asks him why Derek trusted him, and Derek says "because it's you." And Stiles just pushes him against the door, falls into his chest and starts weeping. Derek just holds him close. The darkness plaguing Allison, Scott and Stiles is consuming and it starts affecting the pack. But Lydia manages to figure out that the Nemeton's been contaminated by so much negativity. Together Stiles and Lydia figures out how to do a cleansing. Kira and Scott fall in love, Ally and Isaac fall in love. Derek pushes Stiles up against the revived and cleansed Nemeton, and kisses him. And then they have sex in the forest -- and while that isn't ideal, it is fitting. It helps the Nemeton too because their love is pure. Stiles and Derek move to DC because Stiles got into Georgetown in the fast-track FBI Program because Raf McCall made a call and he owes them a lot.

4 years ago - The original pack are all in different colleges around the country, but they keep in touch. Kira got into Davis and so she heads there and joins Scott. Allison and Lydia are in Boston. Isaac, Erica, Cora and Boyd moved to Atlanta, because they wanted to stay close to Derek, because even though Derek defers decision making to Scott (who it turns out is a True Alpha -- Peter was very jealous), Derek is _their_ Alpha.

2 years ago - Derek told Stiles that he was his mate. i.e. ForeverOneTrueBoo. and they get married in a handfasting ceremony. Deaton officiates. Stiles takes Derek's mating bite (if you're into knotting assume there was knotting for the first time too).

1 year ago - Stiles gets assigned to the Seattle office and is put undercover as a middle-school teacher. When he's not teaching he's going through Data Analysis for the FBI. 75% of the agents in Seattle and Portland who deal with the supernatural crimes are in law enforcement, the rest have boring day jobs like teachers, nurses (there were tons of FBI interns who had proper college degrees in things such as medicine, engineering, technology, taxi drivers, etc. so they used it). Stiles didn't have a functional degree to get a different job, and he didn't have the training to be law enforcement, but he had a degree in Chemistry (suck it, Mr. Harris!) so he gets a job as a teacher's assistant with the Bureau's help. Erica and Boyd move to Seattle as well. Isaac stays in Atlanta because he gets a great job and he's finally started talking to a therapist -- so he's been doing really well. Cora also stays in Atlanta because over the two years Cora and Isaac developed a relationship, and Allison was supportive of them. Allison and Lydia also realized their closeness didn't have to stay limited to friendship and they started dating. Kira had issues with her control so her mother sent her to Japan for a special training program. Kira and Scott broke up, and while he was still holding out hope for Kira coming back to him, Scott was still dating casually. 

Canon divergent -- clearly no Nogitsune, no deadpool, no dread doctors, no ghost riders. Kira still has control issues. No baby-betas (Liam, Mason, Corey)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Anything I write will always be forever Derek/Stiles (if its in the Teen Wolf fandom and if I've listed them as the pairing).

**Author's Note:**

> Talia was not trying to be malicious, she was trying to protect her son. Her son who had a bright future ahead of him in college -- he had a sports scholarship and plans. He could see how Paige was affecting him, and she took the course of action she thought was best. She would have sent Paige more money after Izzy was born (not that 3 million was less), but then she died. She planted the false memories of Derek and Paige's encounter in the woods with the Nemeton. Nobody knew the truth except for her and Paige.
> 
> Derek recognized Paige's scent. But it was the fact that the kid smelt like him and home that threw him off -- because Izzy definitely smelt like his child, and he didn't know how this could be anything other than a trick.


End file.
